Last day out in the community....:(

Today was my last day with Sho Wei out in the community. I’m sad because it has been so much fun. I love being out in the community and actually experiencing the Taiwanese people’s lives. I love seeing where they live, what they do, and how they live. It is the best part of this entire trip. I’ve learned so much about their culture and beliefs and I’m sad to be done. (These are all of the community nurses. We're leaning with the angel behind us....haha)
Sho Wei and I have become very close and I’m sad to leave her (this next pic is me with her and the presents I gave her). She invited me to bring all of the girls and go to her parent’s country home in Kaoshiung next Saturday. They have a Litchi and Mango farm and it’s out in the mountains and supposedly very beautiful. I’m so excited.

This patient was a 90 year old woman! She was adorable. She didn’t talk at all but she literally stared at Rainy the entire time and would not take her eyes off of her Ha ha We were the first Americans she had ever seen. Sho Wei said that “ah ma” has never opened her eyes during their visits and she has worked with her for years……but her eyes were open the entire time we were there….lol This patient's caregiver was Philipino (the first and only philipino caregiver I have seen)

This cute old man (below) was the head of his village (a small village in central Taiwan) for 25 years. This is a very respected position and we were very privileged to meet him. He loved us and even called his son (who works in a factory twenty minutes away) to come meet us.
At this patient’s house (below) we watched a Dodgers vs. D-backs game with her son. The Taiwanese people loooove watching baseball….but they never play it. The only sport they really play is basketball. They have never even heard of football (American football). They get so confused when we try to explain it.
For lunch the community nurses provided us a with a huge feast! We had “fire” duck (we assumed this meant roasted) and it was delicious. You dip it in this yummy sauce and wrap it up in a tortilla. They also ordered us individual lunches and gave us TONS of desserts. They ALL know that I love food and they make fun of me for eating so much of it. While eating, we noticed that all of the nurses were wearing jade bracelets. We asked them why and they explained that many people die in the hospital so there are “zombies” walking around all of the time. The jade bracelets protect them from the zombies!

They also asked us how we pray in our religion (because we were talking about how they pray and who they pray to). We showed them how we pray and they started cracking up! It’s because supposedly crossing your arms (like we do when we’re praying) means that you are very very angry! So they say we always mad at our God!

This is a picture of government housing for veterans of Taiwan. It is so sad there. There are a bunch of single old men with major psychological disorders living there. The government provides the housing for free but it's extremely poor. They all have a community shower and they wash their dishes in this nasty old tub. The patient I visited was a skinny old man. He has dementia and he’s gets violent when he gets confused so all four of his limbs were tied to his bed. It was so sad! When we got done and walked outside there was a group of old veterans standing outside his door to see the Americans. Here’s a picture of us with them. When we got back to the hospital, we had a mini party to say goodbye to our nurses. One of the nurses did Gua cua (pronounced Gwa Shaw)on me. It’s called "scraping" in English. They put this menthol rub on you (kind of like icy hot) and then they use this plastic scraper to scrape your skin! It felt so good……until I saw the picture of my neck……..ha ha It’s now like a huge bruise on my neck! But supposedly it cleanses you and removes knots in your muscles!

Then I got an amazing massage afterwards.....and cake :)

Tomorrow we are off to Kenting (finally!) at seven in the morning for scuba diving and lounging on the beach. We may or may not have internet so you may or may not get a new post until Sunday.......